The object of the present invention is a device for recovering cartridge cases for a shoulder weapon such as an automatic or semiautomatic assault gun having a loading handle and a window for the ejecting of the cases of the cartridges fired.
This device is of the type comprising a support provided with means for its temporary attachment to the weapon, a container connected to the support and having an entrance opening intended to present itself in front of the case ejection window in order to collect the cases and means to permit the recovery of the cases collected in the container.
Devices of this type have already been designed in order to attempt to solve the problems inherent in the recovering of cartridge cases.
This recovery is motivated by the high cost of the cartridges produced and by the rarity of cartridges of certain calibers, which cost and rarity induce practically all sports marksmen to recover and reload the cartridge cases themselves, with further more a beneficial effect on the precision of the firing.
In the absence of a particularly appropriate device, the recovering of the cases is frequently difficult as they may be ejected to a distance several meters away from the marksman, in different directions and frequently in front of the firing path.
In order to limit the loss of cases, the marksmen are led to set up all kinds of screens in the vicinity of the ejection window of the weapon, which is scarcely practical or very effective in view of the fact that the cases ejected do not necessarily assume the same trajectory and may pass to the side of these screens and ricochet in unexpected directions.
It is furthermore customary to see marksmen, after the end of the firing, leave on a search for cases, which are frequently far from the place where they were. The cases found are not necessarily those of the marksman who collects them and it is unpleasant for a serious marksman to reload cases with regard to which he does not know how many times they have already been used nor to what load they have already been subjected.
With the known recovering arrangements of the abovementioned type to which the invention refers, these problems are solved in a manner which is more or less practical depending on the design thereof, as a result of the fact that the container is associated with the weapon and that the cases which are collected therein can only be those of the marksman.
In one of these devices, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,353, the support is screwed onto the frame of the weapon and the container is removable and can be fastened to the support by a locking system with spring-actuated bolt which can be engaged in a keeper of the support. A part of the wall of the container which is located on the side of the ejection window rises towards and below the window and rests against the frame, while the locking by bolt and keeper is located at the upper part of the container, with the result that the holing of the container against the ejection window is assured simply by gravity.
In this device, the cases collected are recovered by detachment of the container from its support, by manual pressure exerted on the spring-actuated bolt.
In another device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,834 and which is of a slightly different type, the support has the shape of an open-bottom housing presenting a lateral opening located opposite the ejection window of the weapon, and the container is formed of a removable bag of netting which is fastened by clipping on the contour of the open bottom of the support. On its side, the support is removably fastened to the weapon by a system consisting of angle iron and elastic gripping collar which act on the top and the contour respectively of the frame of the weapon.
In this device, the cases ejected are also recovered by detachment of the container from its support.
However, these two known devices have, as counterpart of the advantage relative to the recovery of the cases, drawbacks with regard to certain operations of control and manipulation of the weapon due to the parts which are covered or concealed by the container when it is in position of use.
This is also true with respect to the cartridge chamber, which must be capable of being inspected easily by the marksman or the fire director, for instance at the end of a firing, in order to make certain of the absence of a cartridge in the firing chamber, access to which must be facilitated in case of jamming.
This is true also with regard to the loading handle, which must be capable of being operated without interference, particularly during the course of practice firing by small series of bursts which require manual rearming after each series.
Finally, in certain cases, such as, for instance, in combat situations and on certain weapons, the access to the push-button or lever for the unlocking of the loader or else the "safety--shot by shot--burst" selector, must be able to be freed rapidly.
When these parts are covered by the container of these known devices, it is then necessary either to detach the container from its support, in the case of the first patent mentioned, or else to detach the assembly consisting of the support and its container in the case of the second patent mentioned. And this can become very difficult, as, for instance, in the case of practice firing by small series of bursts which require manual rearming after each series, or else dangerous in a combat situation in connection with the changes in loader and the manipulation of the fire selector.
Furthermore, the manipulations necessary for the detachments and particularly the successive reattachments of the container in order to recover the cases collected may be the cause of a loss of time and of nervous irritation.